Serenity in the Sky
by M.L. Widmann
Summary: What if the series had continued onto a second, third, fourth season? More adventure, more romance, and a lot more fighting! - Kaylee/Simon, Zoe/Wash, Mal/Inara
1. Early Night

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Firefly, nor could I ever claim to own anything Joss Whedon has produced. He's far too good for me, or anyone else.

**Author's Note:** This takes place directly after "Objects in Space", the final episode of Firefly, and continues from there. Hope you enjoy!

**Serenity in the Sky**

Chapter One: Early Night

"You _are_ a little genius, aren't ya?" Mal sad, giving River a smirk that was both stern and impressed. "Your brother mentioned somethin' of the sort when we picked you up on Persephone; but there is a small somethin' he didn't tell us all that much about." Without beating around the bush, he asked, "Are you psychic, River?"

She looked at him from where she sat, on a sturdy pile of boxes in the cargo bay. "Psychic?"

Mal approached her fiercely and put both his hands on her shoulders. "Yes, psychic. Do you read minds? Can you sense things that are happening in places you're not in?"

"Mind. Mine." She glared at Mal. "Mine to know."

"Maybe you don't understand well enough yet – I am your captain. You need to tell me what you can do." Mal's frustration was becoming evident with each word he said; but with it being he and River alone in the cargo bay, he knew she wouldn't give away too much.

"What do I do?" she said in a volume barely above a whisper. "I do. I am. I feel. I live."

Mal sighed and headed for the kitchen. "I guess we're gonna have to pick this up in the morning."

"You've got a long night ahead of you," said Kaylee. She leaned over Simon in the infirmary bed. "The pain meds you just took won't last all night and we can't afford to use up too many..."

"We have to make it last; I understand."

Kaylee held his hand tightly and smiled down at him. "I'll be here all night if you need me."

"I'm just glad he didn't hurt you," confessed Simon. "When Early told me he had you captive, I was so scared..."

"It's over now," she interjected. "We're both gonna live. Let's just be grateful for that."

"Even after a trial like tonight, you keep your head up," Simon said. "You're so wonderful, Kaylee – wonderful and positive." Kaylee just smiled meekly in response, so he kept talking. "I bet you weren't even frightened when you saw Early on the ship. How do you do it?"

"Just 'cause I'm happy don't mean I don't get scared or mad, Simon," explained Kaylee, a hint of aggravation in her voice. "Bad things happen, just gotta find the good that come out of it."

The pain meds had taken their affect, and Simon's eyelids grew too heavy for him to handle. "I'm tired... drifting off..."

"I'll be here when you wake up." Kaylee squeezed his hand one last time before Simon fell into a deep sleep.

"Thank you, Shepherd," said Inara gratefully as Book put a warm cloth to her bruised lip.

"You did the same for me – long ago, do you remember?"

"I do. I didn't exactly expect you to be returning the favour," Inara admitted, avoiding eye contact with Book.

He put the cloth on the table in her shuttle and gazed into her eyes as though searching for something. "When we got onto this ship, none of us expected to be living like this."

"I knew what I was getting into, Shepherd."

"No you didn't." His comment finally brought her eyes to meet his. "You knew what Captain Reynolds did, and he informed you about what life would be like here, but no description, regardless of how detailed, would be decent enough to depict how hard and truly dangerous it would be for everyone on board." Inara's pouted lips curved into a smile. "You're a tough woman, Inara, but no one is tough enough to deal with the physical and emotional stress of being on Serenity day after day."

"I suppose you're right," Inara said softly before Book put the cloth back to her lip. Just then, there was a knock at the shuttle door. "Who is it?" she shouted.

"We know it can't be the Captain," Book added to her amusement.

"It's Kaylee," the knocker responded as she opened the door. "Hiya both! Shepherd, I have to talk to Inara for a minute. Simon's out, do you mind...?"

"I'll keep watch over him while you're gone." Book offered her a nod of understanding as he left the shuttle.

"What happened?" Inara asked once the door snapped shut behind him. "I heard Early attacked you too, are you alright?"

Kaylee sat on the bed carefully as to not rub any engine grease from her coveralls onto Inara's silk sheets. "How do you do it, Inara? How do you be so gorgeous all the time?"

Inara furrowed her brow. "I – I'm not really sure what you mean, Kaylee."

"You're always lookin' pretty, bein' in front of boys and such. Aren't you afraid one of 'em is gonna take advantage of you one time?"

Immediately sensing this wasn't about her, Inara gasped. "Kaylee, did Early... did he take advantage of you?" When the tears began to fall gently down Kaylee's cheeks, Inara ran over to the bed and wrapped her friend in her arms. "It'll be okay, he's a filthy man who will do anything for money... He's probably dead by now."

"He didn't do it, Inara, but he threatened me." Kaylee sighed and sat upright, her legs crossed in front of her on the bed. "It was scary. He just tied me up. I felt so small... Ain't you scared someone will do that to you?"

"Kaylee," said Inara in a very sensitive manner. "I fear that every time I step off this ship. Even my clients could decide to betray my trust. You have to remain the strong girl you are and no one will dream of trying anything that would hurt you."

"Strong like Zoe?"

"Yes, but you are also strong in your own way. Never forget that, _mei-mei_."

Suddenly, there was the sound of static interference and Wash's voice came over the speaker. "Mal, I need you on the bridge – now please." Inara and Kaylee sat in silence for a moment until the static resumed. This time, Mal spoke. "Everyone – everyone to the bridge as fast as your feet can go. We have a situation."


	2. A Big Risk

Chapter Two: A Big Risk

"You gotta be ruttin' jerkin' me, Mal," Jayne exclaimed, gaping at his view out the window once they were all on the bridge. "What does he want from us?"

"I don't know," Mal admitted as he leaned over Wash's shoulder to examine the control board. "I thought we were done with him, too."

"Well apparently he ain't exactly done with us," Zoe pointed out. The huge space station hanging in front of Serenity could only belong to Niska. "How'd he find us anyway?"

"Not sure that information would be any more settlin' to the stomach," said Mal. "But we can't run now. Only option's to see what he wants."

Simon raised his hand slowly as he perked up with a question, "Captain, why did you call us all here?"

"Because, Doctor," he began, walking toward the glass panel before them, "you've all dealt with him before. I'm going to make sure we all get outta this alive. We gotta share what we know with one another to maximize chances of survival."

"We gonna ambush him?" Jayne asked with a wide grin.

Inara quickly snapped back at him, "He already found us in wide open space!"

"I got a plan," Mal stated simply, grabbing everyone's immediate attention.

But before he could divulge the plan, Wash pushed himself up from his chair violently and shook his head back and forth until he grew dizzy. "Run, Mal," he said. "You have to get away. You don't owe him anything; the man's a monster!"

"We're fighting, Wash! And that's final!" Mal's words forced their pilot to storm off the bridge and run towards his bunk. Zoe ran after him as soon as she caught onto what was happening, stopping him before he could get the door open.

"Baby, you need to relax. The Captain knows what he's doing; he won't put you in danger… again."

"I can't do it, Zoe. I can't go back to that." He paused when he realized the entire crew was listening in on them. "The whole time I was being tortured, all I could think of was that I may never see you again."

Zoe's face hardened. "And you think I didn't feel the exact same way?" she snapped. "We took this job knowing there would be danger involved, but you have to trust that the Captain and I have always got your back."

"Hey!" shouted Jayne. "What about me?"

Zoe rolled her eyes, but Wash chuckled. "We got each other's backs. I get it." She turned on her heel, signalling for her husband to follow her trail.

"That's _better_," Mal sighed. "Any other objections?"

He didn't expect an answer, but Kaylee looked around the group before cautiously putting up her hand. "Cap'n, I just don't know if dealin' with him is such a good idea… last time…"

"Last time we all got out fine, if I do recall."

"You lost an ear! Need I remind you of the torture?" asked Wash in a sarcastic tone. Suddenly a signal came up on the control board. "It's probably Niska now – what should we do?"

Mal sat down in Wash's chair and swivelled it to face his crew. "I'm going to take the call alone. I'll meet you all in the kitchen when we can discuss a plan of action."

Everyone was hesitant to leave, but one by one, starting with Zoe, his crew filed off of the bridge. Mal's breath hitched for a minute before he pushed the blinking red button, inviting the image of his enemy on board.

"If it isn't Malcolm Reynolds," Niska said. He was trying to sound intimidating, but it was a nearly impossible task what with the way his face was bruised, bloodied and bandaged. Mal had never seen him look more like a frail old man.

"Niska, you found me in the big ol' black," Mal said faking being impressed. "I don't know why you'd be on the look-out for me in particular, though. I was under the impression we'd had some sort of understanding after I last fought my way off your station; which reminds me, you ain't lookin' the greatest. Feeling any better?"

"Malcolm Reynolds," Niska chuckled. "Still haven't lost your spark, I see. It is exactly that spark I need. After being left for dead on my own space station, my reputation has been damaged. I no longer instil fear on my clients, nor do I have their trust. No one will deal with me."

"Ah, that's a shame," Mal said, completely unfazed.

Niska's face on the monitor grew weak. "You, on the other hand, have a very good reputation, yes?"

"I like to think so."

"I have to get all the operations after our battle, but I cannot go to Alliance, so they cost me all the money I have. Now I am alive, but I cannot get work to survive. Do you understand why I came to _you_ Captain Reynolds?"

"Last resort?"

"Precisely the point. I am running out of nourishment very quickly, and I know there is word of food on Greenleaf."

Mal furrowed his brow. "If you have no money, how do you suppose you'll be paying me for my services – if I choose to provide you with them?"

"Ah, do you think I don't know what you are carrying with you, Malcolm Reynolds? I would have taken her myself and received the reward, but I have no way to pay my men. The ones you didn't already kill left me soon after, and I cannot hope to take little girl on my own." Niska smirked at the look of shock Mal was trying so hard to conceal and continued on, "Instead, I will pay you by telling the Alliance I saw this girl on the other side of the galaxy. That should buy you some time – no? And you can keep any extra food supplies you happen to _obtain_ from Greenleaf." There was a moment of silence as Mal thought on his proposition. "So, Captain Reynolds, do we have a deal?"

Mal explained everything to the crew that Niska had told him. "And he says he'll stay out of our hair from here on in – boost his reputation."

"This has to be a trap," Zoe declared. "As soon as he gets a chance, Niska is gonna shoot you."

"You do realize this, right Mal?" Inara said from her seat at the table. "Wash was right – the man is a monster."

"He has offered very reasonable compensation," said Mal.

"This is a risk that you have to be sure is well worth the reward, Captain," Book interjected.

"I've considered the risk; I've considered the reward; and I've already said we'll do it."

"What if he tries to kill you again?" Kaylee asked, sounding very unsure about the Captain's plan.

"Jayne?" Mal asked, indicating to his beefy sidekick wearing his orange hat.

Jayne grinned, "We blow his gorram brains out before he gets a chance."


	3. Revenge

Chapter Three: Revenge

"The Captain's insane," Simon muttered as he sat with River on her bed in their travellers' bunk. "The man was tortured to death and back, and he's planning on helping the man who did it."

"Revenge." River's voice was small, but it filled up the tiny room. Simon's head jolted up to look at her – unsure if he'd heard her properly. "Revenge," she repeated. "He's doing it for revenge..." Suddenly River screamed and whimpered, crawling into the corner.

"What is it, River?" asked Simon in a panic.

"He's going to kill him... he's going to... _watch out_!" she shrieked. "Watch out, it's heavy! The speed and velocity at which the object travels has a direct impact on how quickly death occurs..."

It didn't take long for Simon to click. His sister was delivering a warning that he had to translate for the Captain to understand.

"Captain! Captain, I need to talk to you!" Simon had to chase Mal in order to keep up with his heavy strides towards the cargo bay.

"What is it, Doctor? I've got important things to keep my worries on right about now."

"River seems to think that Niska is planning to get revenge on you for... well, what you did to him the last time." The comment that Simon was sure would stop Mal in his tracks didn't seem to concern him very much; he didn't even slow down.

"I'm fixin' he's probably got a plan or two up those tight sleeves of his, yes," said Mal. He was out on the floor with Jayne and Zoe, getting their guns and other equipment together, and his response earned a chuckle from both of them.

Simon sighed exasperatedly, "Yes, but you could die on this mission, Captain."

By this point, Mal's frustration got the best of him and he took a step toward Simon. "There's a risk on every mission, _Doctor_. Now, we need the food, and I'm sure you'd appreciate a third party gettin' those feds as far away from your sister as possible."

"Yes, but –"

"Then stop yer chatterin' and let the big boys go out and play!" Jayne barked. "We'll be back with supper, yeh ungrateful prissy pants."

Simon's heart fell as the hatch hit the ground and the three of them stepped out of serenity.

"This job ain't as taxing as I thought it would be, Mal," Jayne whined as the three of them were picking apples off one of the many trees in the area. The lush green had them well-concealed, but if anyone decided to come looking, their loud voices and dark clothing made the trio easy to spot.

"Stop complaining," sighed Zoe, heaving a bag of vegetables along behind her. "If someone catches us, they'll be ready for a fight."

Mal nodded. "That's right – these plants only produce yummy, yummy fruits every six months or so. Not exactly enough to feed a planet."

"But they'll be feedin' us now!" said Jayne with a menacing laugh.

"And Niska, too, apparently," Zoe added, shooting a confused glance at Mal. "Captain, why are we even dealing with Niska? He's very bad news, sir."

Mal never got a chance to answer; the sound of a snapping twig caught their attention, and they all stopped moving. "Hey," a raspy male voice shouted through the thick trees at his unseen trespassers, "what are you doin' on my farm?"

Zoe and Jayne looked at Mal for some sort of direction, so he mouthed one word to them: "Serenity". Jayne, unable to be silent now, went for speed by hoisting Zoe's bag over his shoulder and running toward the ship. As Mal and Zoe dashed after him, they took shots at the man who was now aiming at them with a shotgun. Their zigzag tactic had him missing a few times, but it was enough to buy them the time to get back to the ship.

"Are you alright? Is anyone hurt?" Simon asked in a panic, running back to the cargo bay as Wash hauled the ship back into the air. Once he noticed the Captain was safely on board, he breathed a sigh of relief.

"How'd it go?" Kaylee asked, following closely behind Simon.

Jayne held up the bag and smirked. "We got yummy, yummy fruits for everyone!" His declaration earned a cheer from everyone, including Book and Inara, who soon joined the scene.

"Don't be cheerin' too heartfully yet," said Mal. "We still gotta go and give Niska his share."

Deep in the ship, at the corner of her bed, River began to shake again, and she whispered to herself, "Revenge."

Mal, Zoe and Jayne boarded Niska's space station with caution, but just as he had previously made clear, all of his men were gone. No one to provide a surprise upon boarding, no one to check if they were armed... just the three of them and a clear path to Niska's place of business.

"Why hello there, Malcolm Reynolds and crew," Niska greeted them as happily as he could. He sat behind a desk, obviously unable to move very much since Mal last left him to die. He had visibly lost weight. His eyes were even more squinted than usual – probably to due continuing vision problems, but most of all, Niska looked on the verge of starvation. Niska couldn't be a threat; all he wanted was to live, like anyone else out in the black.

Zoe pressed her lips together, hoping the Captain wouldn't be as thick with Niska as he had been with Patience, regardless of how many bodyguards were around.

"Here's how it's going to happen," Mal said forcefully. "We're not going to give you anything until we've seen that signal hit sky."

"Of course," Niska agreed, a smirk planted firmly on his face.

"We watch it first," said Zoe. "Just to make sure."

Niska touched the screen on his desk, setting the video recording into motion. "Alliance cruiser ship, I am aware of a pair of refugees you have been looking for – I have spotted who I believe to be these refugees out on Ares. I don't expect a reward, as I honour my Alliance." He said the last bit with distain before the image froze.

"I can't send the signal when I, myself, am so far from Ares," real Niska realized. "They will wonder why I waited so long to send it to them. On second thought..." Niska reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out a small pistol. Mal's quick reaction time meant he, Zoe and Jayne were drawing weapons not long after, but even still, Mal didn't look very threatened by the pistol Niska held.

"A man of your reputation, I thought you'd have bigger guns," Mal sneered, holding a rifle of his own.

"I am not going to let you get away alive after what you did to me," said Niska. "It's time for a little revenge." He shot at Mal and managed to graze his shoulder with the bullet, but it only took Jayne one swing of the big bag of produce to knock Niska to the ground.

He was gasping for air, but Mal stood over him and growled, "Revenge is sweet, isn't it?" The Captain pushed the button, sending Niska's signal to where ever the nearest Alliance ship was, and then hit him in the head with the back of his rifle, taking him out for good.


	4. Not the Time

Chapter Four: Not the Time

"I told you, Doctor, you don't need to fix my shoulder," said Mal. Simon had insisted he stitch up the wound Niska gave him. "It's only just a graze."

"It's no trouble at all," Simon said as he ran the needle through Mal's skin with care. "It's better to be better than worse."

Mal didn't pay much attention to the needle, but there was something on his mind that was making more of an impression on him than the scar. "When you thought I was gonna die, you made one hell of an attempt to warn me – taking into account your leg, and all." Simon looked down at his own bullet wound and Mal continued. "Why'd you try to save me? You don't even like me all that much," Mal smirked and cocked his head to the side.

Simon's lips curved as he failed to completely suppress his grin. "You're my Captain," he admitted.

"So?"

"You're my Captain. I don't see why this is still an issue."

Mal's smirk grew into a full-on smile. "Glad to know it, Doctor."

"And I do appreciate it," clarified Simon. "I really do appreciate the fact you got Niska to send the feds on that wild goose chase…"

"I know."

"Yes, but Jayne said…"

"I know what Jayne said," said Mal sternly, through his grin. "I also know how much your sister means to you."

Smile smiled and put his hand firmly on Mal's good shoulder. "Thank you."

Once he was all stitched up, Mal hopped off the infirmary chair and headed toward the kitchen. "I'll see you at dinner, Doctor."

Not long after Mal left, Book entered the infirmary to see Simon cleaning his tools. "So, the Captain survived Niska one more time," he said, getting Simon to turn around in surprise. "He's a brave man, the Captain."

"Yes, very brave," Simon agreed, deciding that now would be a good time to inquire about the thing he'd been wondering since Early climbed on board Serenity. "Shepherd, may I ask you a question?"

"Seems to me you just did… but you can ask another."

Simon took a short intake of breath, and began. "Well, that night Early came onto the ship, I asked him how he could so easily beat a Shepherd senseless. He told me you weren't a Shepherd."

"I'm not hearing the question, Simon," Book smirked.

"Why would he say that? I normally wouldn't believe a man like that, but Kaylee told me of the time you were shot and the Alliance helped you out – so why you? Who are you?"

"Now's not the time for that conversation."

"Then when?"

"I've experienced some hard times, Dcotor. Reliving them isn't something I'm keen on doing." Book walked out of the infirmary, leaving Simon with a puzzled face, feeling more curious than he had been five minutes prior.

"Men are so ridiculously blind, Kaylee," Inara explained as she played with her friend's hair in her shuttle. "You can be as obvious as you want, and they still won't know how you feel."

Kaylee sighed and crossed her legs from her spot on the floor. "It's a li'l frustrating, is all. I mean, I've made it very clear I like him, and he still goes all twitchy around me."

"The Doctor is a respectful man. He probably just doesn't know how to react to a girl being so forward with him."

She allowed the idea to mull in her mind for a moment before exhaling heavily. "I just want him to act on passion for once, y'know? Throw that rule book out the window and just take hold of me real hard…" Kaylee's voice drifted and an innocent smirk formed as she blushed.

Inara perked up inquisitively. "You know, I told Mal I wouldn't service his crew, but you're my friend. So if you need to release some tension on the matter, I'd understand…"

"That's real sweet of you, Inara, but I'm a little put out right now." There was a comfortable silence between them and then she added, "Simon almost kissed me that night with Early."

"Really? Why didn't he?" asked Inara, sounding both giddy and intrigued.

"Shepherd walked by… distracted his short attention span," Kaylee giggled.

"I told you – men are blind," Inara repeated with a tinge of aggravation. "You do all you can and they just won't make a move!" It didn't take Kaylee long to realize Inara was talking about someone else entirely.


	5. Manufactured

**Disclaimer: **I actually didn't come up with the idea for this chapter... Joss did. If you have the Blu-ray edition of _Firefly_, there is a special feature where Ron Glass, Joss Whedon, Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion have lunch while discussing the show, and at one point, they discuss possible plots that would have been included had the show continued on. I use some of those ideas in this story because, well, this _is_ the show had it continued on.

**Author's Note:** I want to say a huge thank you to my reviewers. I have never gotten such detailed reviews for any of my fics before, and I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me what you like and what you don't, what I did that you enjoy and what I did that needs fixing in upcoming chapters. Thank you, thank you, thank you! And if you don't review – you should probably start so I can make the story better. I've already got 25 chapters of this thing planned; if you're along for the ride, you might as well give me your input!

Chapter Five: Manufactured

"We almost at atmo, Wash?"

"Yes we are," Wash confirmed, his voice going high pitched in the middle. He had troubles focusing on more than one thing at a time and talking to Mal on the bridge was a distraction from his flying. "Should be on the ground in a matter of minutes!"

"Good," Mal said as he headed toward the engine room. "Kaylee!"

"Yes, Cap'n?" She poked her head out from beneath the engine, covered in grease as usual.

"We'll be landed on Persephone in less than an hour – I'm gonna need you to get Serenity to hold on for a li'l longer. We'll get her some new parts when we're safe on the ground."

"Shiny, Cap'n! We sure could use some new parts..."

"See you on the ground, Kaylee." Mal was already on the move. "Zoe! Jayne!" The two crew members he called appeared before him from their bunks.

"We're landing on Persephone shortly, Captain?" asked Zoe.

"And I'm going to need you both to come with me."

"We gonna snatch somethin' from Badger again?" Jayne's voice was giddy with excitement as he grasped onto one of the guns at his side.

"No," said Mal, "no snatchin' required. He's giving us some legal cargo this time 'round."

"Legal? How can we be sure, sir?" Zoe asked. "He's wronged us too many times before to trust him..."

When they met up with Badger shortly after, it became abundantly clear as to how they could trust him. The bags had Alliance markers all over them, and Badger held up an envelope to go along with it. "This here is specific instructions, Alliance instructions," he added pointedly to Zoe, "to send these bags off to Lyssa – small moon on one of the outer planets. They've got a bit of a livestock problem. This here's the feed they can't live without."

"What about the pay?" asked Jayne, cocking his head to the side. "What do we get?"

Badger smirked and straightened his bowler's hat. "Fifty percent of what I was paid to take it off their hands."

Laughing, Mal took a step towards badger and looked down at him. "Fifty percent for takin' it off their hands – I don't think that's right at all. We're the ones doin' all the work."

"Fine, how's about fifty-five?" Badger sneered.

"I was thinking more along the lines of ninety."

"Seventy."

"Eighty-five."

"Eighty!"

Mal furrowed his brow. "Eighty is a little low, but I guess that's as far as we're gonna get you, eh Badger?"

He scowled as he threw Mal the bag of coins – eighty percent worth.

"I wonder what's in the bag," Kaylee sighed. She passed the bags sitting in the cargo bay as she brought the new parts for Serenity onboard.

"It's the cow feed, dummy" said Jayne. "Badger gave it to us to feed the _cows _on Lyssa."

Book and Simon were heading toward Kaylee and their cargo while Inara crossed to her shuttle overhead. "Yeah, but what if it's something real good... something we can eat?"

"You probably shouldn't, Kaylee," advised Book, ducking down to inspect the closed bag even further.

"But I'm starved..." She dumped the metal and ceramic parts onto a nearby box and knelt next to the bag. "Just a peek wouldn't hurt..." Kaylee untied the drawstring and pulled the brown bag open to find something she definitely was not expecting to see. The sight shocked her, sending an involuntary shriek from her lungs.

Simon rushed toward her and wrapped her cringing figure in his arms. "What is it?" he asked Book who was investigating the contents of the bag already.

"Human body parts?" Jayne responded, taking a look for himself. "Why are we ruttin' carrying gorram body parts to feed them cows?"

"Ah knew you'd think us strange when yeh found out what y'all were carryin' for us," said a man in what was meant to be a sharp suit. Everything was dirty here, kind of reminding the crew of their stop at Canton. Another little moon off another backwater planet – that was Lyssa.

"Care to explain?" Mal asked.

"Firs' off, mah name is Russ – mayor of this here rock."

Jayne groaned. "Just get to the part why we're handin' you off some dead guy's legs for!"

"We're desperate," Russ explained quickly, in a panic that Jayne might actually hurt him. "They're all the cows'll eat! The Alliance sent us some genes in these glass cases. Ain't no one wanted to give us anythin' of value, so we had to grow our own livestock to feed everyone out here! But somethin' went wrong in the growin' process..."

"What?" Mal asked sternly, a hint of concern in his voice. "What went wrong?"

"Them genes – somethin' went wrong with them genes the Alliance gave us."

"Do you have any samples of the cow genes?"

"Ah do, Captain, ah do," Russ pulled a glass vial out of his stained coat pocket and handed it to Mal. "What are yeh gonna...?"

"Zoe, get the Doctor over here right now," Mal said.

Not more than a few seconds later, Simon's voice came from behind him. "Yes, Captain?"

"Take this," he handed the vial back until Simon gripped it, "I want you to run some tests. Tell me what the difference is between that DNA and typical cattle DNA."

"I deal with medicine. I'm not exactly a chemist, Captain..."

"I want you to try everything you have the capacity to do. Got it?"

Simon didn't even waste time responding. He got a hold of the vial and made his way back to the ship. He was almost there when he heard a rustle among the deadened bushes. "Is someone there?" he whispered, hoping he wouldn't get a reply. Suddenly, Simon felt a heavy object hit him in the back of the head, and he was out cold before he knew what had happened, the glass vial still clutched in his hand.


	6. Be a Man

Chapter Six: Be a Man

Fear was the first thing Simon felt when he woke up – pain was the second. He couldn't see much, but a few candles revealed that he was in someone's idea of a bedroom. There was a dressed, and he was definitely on a bed. There seemed to be a window, but no light shone through. Simon concluded it must have been night time.

"Look who's finally awake," said a soft, feminine voice. Simon tried to turn over and see who was speaking, but he found his limbs tied to the bedposts so he was forced to stare at the ceiling.

"Wh-who's there?" Simon stuttered. When the girl came into his view, he could not believe his eyes. "Mrs. Reynolds?"

She laughed half-heartedly. "You can call me Ginger now, Doc."

"What are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember? This is the same little moon you left me on last time our paths crossed."

He knew it seemed familiar. "What do you want with me?"

"Oh, I just need some bait for Malcolm Reynolds. Don't worry, until then it's just you and me… and I wouldn't do anything to hurt _you_…"

"How'd the Doc get snatched _again_?" Jayne groaned. The entire crew stood in the cargo bay, unsure of the next move to make.

"Simon had the bad cow genes with him," Mal pointed out. "Whoever took him probably wants those for 'emself."

"Whatever the case, we gotta find him – right Cap'n?" asked Kaylee, Inara's arm around her middle.

River sat cross-legged in the middle of the circle they formed and looked into her lap. "Simon is in danger," she sighed, demanding the attention of everyone around her. "My brother."

"Yes, River," Book knelt down to her eye level. "Do you know where your brother might have gone?"

"Many faces. Home is not a home if it has many faces. It loses trust."

"Why can't she just talk normal, like us?" Jayne groaned.

Zoe stared at him blankly. "The girl is a super genius, Jayne."

"She ain't if we can't ruttin' understand a word she says!"

A grimance and a moan from Mal gained their attention. "I think I know who's got the Doc." He shook his head. "Have we been living together too long, or did anyone else get that?"

"Well, he'll be alright, won't he?" Kaylee perked up. The crew glanced around at one another, answering her question without saying a word.

"I'm hopin' I'm wrong, little Kaylee," Mal shrugged. "But I can't get involved this time."

"Bait?" Simon inquired. "That's all you need me for?"

The girl formerly known as Saffron (but currently know as Ginger) smirked and let the back of her fingers fall down Simon's cheek. "That's all I _need_ you for – not all I _want_ you for."

Simon's eyes widened and she took it for the wrong meaning, as she licked her lips and walked toward the dresser to grab something. While her back was turned, he gently felt around. Ginger was definitely good with knots; he had to give her that. Even if he was able to manage the ropes securing his wrists, he wouldn't be able to loosen his ankles unnoticed. Just as he was working out the probability of getting caught in that situation, Ginger turned back to face him.

"Please," he found himself begging. He didn't want to, but sometimes he couldn't help but appear weak for his cause. "Please, let me go. My sister… She needs… I need to…" She looked amused, so Simon changed his tactic."Maybe we can cut a deal, Ginger." His mind first wandered to the genes he had in a vial in his pocket, but he quickly pushed that idea out of his head. No way he'd sell out the Captain.

"I'm listening," she said. Her coy amusement changed to sheer boredom in moments, but if he could distract her long enough…

"Why don't you come over here and untie me?"

"And what do I get out of this exchange?"

Simon smirked and tilted his head so he could see her properly. "You said you _wanted_ me. How am I supposed to do anything to please you when I'm all tied up?" He knew sex wasn't originally on her mind, and she had no intention of doing anything but giving him the Goodnight Kiss when she had the chance, but once he put on the role in return, the look in her eye suggested otherwise.

Ginger squinted at Simon and smiled. "I'll untie your legs, Doc, and that's just to get those pants off. You're gonna have to do more than seduce me to get out of here."

As soon as Ginger released his feet from the ropes, he jumped up from the bed and ran across the room. Simon had freed his hands during their conversation – obviously a surprise to Ginger. And there was nowhere she could have hidden a gun on her person.

"You seem shocked," Simon noted, encouraging the glare she was giving. "I am a Doctor."

As he ran out of the room, Simon could feel a fire of gunshots chasing him down the hallway, which he anticipated, but they all seemed to miss – until he felt the sharp pain in his arm, and started to feel woozy.

"Wash, Kaylee," Mal said shortly. "There's been a bit of trouble. Without that analysis comin' in, the cows are getting' more restless than usual and Russ can't contain 'em."

"Need help, Cap'n?" asked Kaylee.

Wash interjected optimistically, "Hopefully from _inside_ the ship?"

"I need you to go find the Doctor." Kaylee's eyes went wide and Mal knew he'd picked the girl for the job. "Hurry – once me, Zoe and Jayne are done with this, we gotta get out of here."

When Mal had walked away and was safely out of earshot, Wash turned to Kaylee and shook his head disapprovingly. "Seem to you we're always in a rush?"

They only walked two steps onto the dirt of the moon when Simon was spotted running madly toward them.

"Well that mission went well," Wash joked.

But Simon's face wasn't the first thing that caught Kaylee's eye. "You've been hit!"

"Get on Serenity!" Simon wailed, grabbing Kaylee with his bloodied arm, Wash with the other, and pushing them back through the door.

"What was that all about?" Wash asked, hesitant of how to react to Simon's unpredictable entrance.

"Saffron is back. She's here." He looked around the cargo bay wildly as if she could be around any corner. "She kidnapped me to get to Mal. We need to get out of here."

"She shot you, Simon!" Kaylee exclaimed again.

He shrugged. "It was only a graze. I'll take care of it later."

"Pretty bloody graze…"

Wash looked from Simon to Kaylee and held a great intake of breath. He released it only after quite a long pause and then said, "Well, I've got pilot-y things to do… I'd better…" He was out of the cargo bay before either Simon or Kaylee noticed.

"You should take care of your hurt, Simon."

"I know, I'm just happy to be out of there."

"You have a habit of gettin' yourself caught, dontcha?"

He chuckled. "Yeah, I guess."

There was a long silence between the two of them as they sat and enjoyed each other's company. Kaylee stroked his arm. Simon stared into her eyes and smiled as she fixated on the gunshot wound.

"Will you… come with me to the infirmary?" he asked, blushing. "So I can…"

"Sure!" Kaylee blurted. In the way he inquired, she assumed he wanted her alone. But with Simon, it was always safe to assume the opposite, and all he really wanted was company while he treated his injury.

In the infirmary, Simon placed himself on the chair while she stood over him. "Are you doin' okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Simon, cleaning himself up. "I'll be fine."

"Good." Her emotions instantly hit the reverse and she grew frustrated. "Simon, you know I got feelings for you. You know we get along and we got somethin' here. Why don't you ever do nothin' about it?"

Simon was stunned by her forward question, and in his hesitance to answer, she sighed. "Oh well, I guess." And she left him alone with a newly formed scar.

The question haunted him the rest of the night. Why _didn't_ he do anything about it? He could be playful and slick around Ginger, but when it came to Kaylee, someone he really _cared_ about, he froze up. Their chemistry was undeniable… He had to say something. What would he say to her? There was one person whose advice he could ask on the topic, and he would… in the morning.


	7. Outside the Outsiders

Chapter Seven: Outside the Outsiders

Inara was sitting in her shuttle, just finishing up a call with an old client when there was a knock at the door. It was soft and hardly audible, but it was unmistakeably a knock.

"Who is it?" Inara called, making sure her night robe was tied tightly.

"It's… uh, it's Simon," the voice responded.

Assuming the doctor had some update on the status of breakfast, Inara welcomed him in. "What brings you here, Simon?" she inquired with a warm smile.

"Actually," he stuttered, "this is kind of embarrassing…"

"There's no need to feel ashamed with me."

Simon clasped his hands uncomfortably, noticing how sweaty they were getting. "Well, I was _hoping_… I mean, you know how I am when it comes to girls…"

"You want to impress Kaylee!" Inara exclaimed, leading Simon over to sit on the bed with her.

His smirk quickly changed to a typical Simon frown. "No, well, I guess… I just want to know how to talk to girls. It seems every time I try to talk to Kaylee, I hurt her, and I don't know what I'm doing wrong until after it comes out of my mouth. I want her to like me…"

"She _does_ like you, Simon."

"Then why aren't we together yet?" Inara recoiled at his temper and he sighed. "I'm sorry; I just mean to say that I want to make things right and I'm not sure as to how."

"Oh, Simon," Inara giggled. Only Inara could perform the act of a schoolgirl with such sophistication and grace. "She's waiting for you to do something. Here, pretend I'm Kaylee."

Simon raised his eyebrow and moved his head back. "I'd really rather not."

"What would you say to me if I was Kaylee?"

"I'd say… I'd say… I'd say something stupid."

"Come on, Simon. I'm Kaylee. Tell me how you feel."

He took a sharp intake of breath. "Okay… uh _Kaylee_… I really like you. You're happy even when there's no reason to be. You light up a room… I wish more than anything that we could be together, and…"

"Hey there, Inara, I was wondering if you wanted to…" Kaylee walked into the shuttle unannounced and her eyes went wide. "I thought you were listening to a client."

The words he had last said were echoing in his mind. _I wish more than anything that we could be together_.

"Kaylee, it's not…"

"It's okay, Inara. I'm interrupting. Breakfast's ready when you are." Kaylee was on her way out of the shuttle as quickly and thoughtlessly as she'd entered.

"Kaylee, wait!" Simon leapt off the bed and chased her onto the bridge in the cargo bay.

"What?"

"I don't know what you _think_ you were interrupting, but I can assure you, you weren't."

"What then?"

"I went to Inara for advice!" Simon confessed, "on how to talk to you. I wanted to impress you."

"You don't gotta impress me!" Kaylee sighed exasperatedly and clutched the handrail. "Simon, if you wanna impress me, you just gotta be you! Shiny?"

"Then why hasn't anything happened with us yet?"

"If you want something to happen, make it happen!" She was about to open her mouth to continue shouting when Simon leaded forward, grabbed the back of her neck and kissed her forcefully. Once they parted, neither of them spoke. Before either of them got a chance to verbally respond, the pair heard snickering from the passage to the bridge. Sure enough, Jayne and Wash were grinning at them. Simon blushed and walked in the opposite direction as the two of them headed toward the Brain of Serenity.

"'Bout time the Doc showed little Kaylee some lovin'," Jayne claimed, following the pilot to his headquarters.

Wash beamed as he slid the door to the bridge open. "I think it's great."

"They'd have some ruttin' smug lookin' babies," Jayne pointed out. "Unless the younguns don't take after the Doc."

"Jayne…"

"You know he's got that look about him…" Leaning against the wall beside the door, Jayne began to put on his best Simon impression. Of course, it wasn't very accurate, but the bits that were close were close enough to be identifiable with Simon's traits.

"That's horrible!" Wash laughed, sitting in his seat.

"And you think you can do better?"

"I can't do a Simon, but I can do a pretty darn good Mal. I've been practicing."

Jayne sneered and chuckled. "Oh, I gotta see this."

Just as Wash screwed up his face to put on a very Malcolm Reynolds-esque expression, the Captain himself walked through the door. "Wash, your face is funny. May wanna look to that."

"Oh hi, _Captain_…" Wash mumbled as Jayne fell into a fit of uncontrollable laughter.

The breakfast table was empty, save for River. She sat at the farthest end of the table from the main door to the kitchen, curled on the chair. It was hours since breakfast and she hadn't moved one bit. No one had taken noticed until Zoe walked through.

"River?" Zoe asked, hesitantly approaching her. "River, honey, what's wrong?"

"Belonging," she whispered. "Everyone belongs. Everyone loves. I don't love. What is love?"

"Honey, you don't need love…"

Book's voice came from behind them, and Zoe could not have been more grateful. She needed help with this one. "River, you have your brother. He loves you very, very much."

"You don't."

"What?"

"River…"

"We're a team – a crew. I'm not part of the crew."

Zoe and Book looked at each other, both of them lost for words. Finally, Zoe opened her mouth. "You are part of the crew, honey. We're all in this together."

"Do I belong?"

"No one belongs, River," said Book. "That's life. We're all just lucky to have found each other."


End file.
